MPO backs six-laning U.S. 41 Bypass in Venice

A regional transportation panel decided overwhelmingly Monday to reject the idea of adding roundabouts to the U.S. 41 Bypass.

Instead, the Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization ordered the state road department to proceed with plans to widen the highway to six lanes and keep its signalized intersections.

The decision eliminates a final hurdle for the long-anticipated project that provides north-south traffic an alternative to Business U.S. 41 in downtown Venice.

Acquisition of rights of way on the northern half of the $68.2 million project will be under way soon. Construction is expected to begin in fiscal 2014-15.

The 10-4 decision by the MPO, which prioritizes federal and state transportation projects in the bi-county area, followed a morning of heated debate.

But the majority of mayors, county commissioners and other local officials on the MPO board still favored the recommendation of their consultants and engineers.

"You have all the expert advice that you need," John Ryan, spokesman for the 1,100-member Venice Chamber of Commerce, told MPO members.

MPO members also noted the unanimous support for an expanded highway, with sidewalks and bike lanes, by the Venice City Council.

Sarasota County Commissioner Christine Robinson, whose district includes part of Venice, argued that, when a drawbridge to the island is up, traffic on a Venice Avenue roundabout would "jam up in every direction."

Barbetta referred to a consultant's report that noted six-lane highways are likely to have more accidents than four-lane highways because more vehicles are changing lanes.

"I just think this is the wrong thing to do," Barbetta said.

Rod Warner, a Sarasota County representative on the MPO's Citizen Advisory Committee, initiated the idea of roundabouts months ago and the MPO agreed to study it.

Warner believes the MPO made the wrong call.

"Intersections determine capacity, not the width of the road between them," Warner said.

Warner argued that, as opposed to the stop-and-go traffic at signalized intersections, roundabouts would keep traffic in all directions constantly flowing. He got the support of the Sierra Club and Venice residents who want the Bypass to be more pedestrian oriented.

Yet, after examining Warner's idea, the MPO's consultants, the Florida Department of Transportation and the MPO staff still contended that six lanes and traffic signals would be more efficient and effective.

The DOT argued that roundabouts would require more rights of way at the intersection sites.

Phill Younger, a Longboat Key Town Commissioner and MPO member, said a similar widening project has been done on U.S. 301 north of Sarasota and appears to be an improvement.